I'm always surprised at how slow the firesticks are, even the higher end models (never tried the cube one)
The Nvidia shield pro is still the best in my opinion even if it is over due a refresh.
One of the best things about the shield is that they don't release new devices unnecessarily. Other manufacturers would have us on Nvidia Shield Pro Max 23 by now just because they know they can milk money out of gullible customers who feel like they need the newest device available or they're missing out on something.